The Eternal Divide
by kaze543
Summary: The Shinigami is an immortal being, is it not? but Naruto still chooses to challenge it.Every human has a limit but Naruto will try the nigh impossible in an attempt to regain something he lost...his eyesight.
1. Prologue

A/N – Hello readers and welcome to 'The Eternal Divide' I hope you all have a nice time reading this new fic. Thank you.

Disclaimer : I do not own Naruto

The Eternal Divide

Prologue

Konoha, the village hidden in the leaves, is one of the five majoring ninja militias in the elemental countries. A normally peaceful place besides the time of the Third Great Shinobi War.

On this day though, October 10th, this peaceful tranquil is disturbed by the presence of the nine-tailed bijuu, the Kyuubi.

The Kyuubi, the strongest of the tailed demons, it is able to cut a mountain in half or even start a tsunami with just a flick from one of its tails.

Its attack on Konoha was a surprise, but that did not stop its forces to immediately intercept the Kyuubi in the forest, just a few 100 meters away from Konoha and the battle for the survival of Konoha started.

* * *

**Konoha Hospital,**

In the Konoha's hospital, many of the wounded from the battle against Kyuubi are being taken in. But deeper in the hospital, a man sits just outside of the ER room, this man holds great importance to Konoha, better known as the yondaime hokage, Namikaze Minato.

_Tap._

_Tap._

_Tap._

_Tap._

'_How long does it take for a baby to be born!'_ He thought in frustration. Namikaze Minato, waiting outside of the ER room where his wife, Uzumaki Kushina lies giving birth to a new baby boy. '_It's been 4 hours since Kushina got moved into the ER…and that just _has_ to be the time we get invaded by the Kyuubi as well.' _It was obvious, he was pissed.

"Minato-kun, it is not healthy to make a face like that, it could become permanent and I do not think that Konoha would want a hokage with a face contorted like that" The new person's voice spoke true, Minato's face had his eyes squinted together, his nose flared and his teeth gritted together, all in all, he looked utterly ridiculous.

Letting his facial muscles relax "Oh! Sarutobi-san, what are you doing here?" Minato letting his mind wander off his thoughts of his ire for the time being.

"Can't an old man come up to check on my successor and his wife?" The newly dubbed Sarutobi asked with amusement in his voice. Sarutobi, the sandaime hokage also known as 'the professor' for his vast knowledge of jutsu's, and is currently retired.

Sarutobi's face suddenly took on a serious appearance "Minato, do you know of the situation going on just outside of these walls?"

"How bad has it gotten?" Minato asked, although not really wanting to know the answer.

"Many of our ninjas are either injured or else dead, the rest are still on the battlefield stalling the Kyuubi, waiting for you to come and stop the Kyuubi" As he heard this, Minato's face took on a grave look.

"Sarutobi-san, you know as much as I do that the Kyuubi cannot be killed by mere mortals."

"Well what do you suggest we do then Minato-kun?" Minato's eyes became dim. Sarutobi suddenly wishing he hadn't asked.

"If it comes down to it, I will use _that_ jutsu." Hearing this Sarutobi flew into a rage.

"WHAT! You know the consequences of using it! As well as the needed items, who would you even use to carry out this jutsu! There is NO ONE who will allow you, nor is there anyone who you are able to use, the Kyuubi's chakra will certainly destroy the chakra coils of anyone you will use to carry it out!" Sarutobi, now red-faced looks at Minato to see how he will respond.

"I know that Sarutobi-san, but there is one person who I will be able to use." Minato said in a solemn voice.

"And who might that just be?" Sarutobi asked. Minato started to look towards the door of the ER room, time and sound seemed to freeze at that moment.

_Quiet._

"Surely you wouldn't!"- Sarutobi was interrupted as the door to the ER room opened and a doctor had come out.

Minato moved quickly towards the newest person in the room.

"How is she?" Minato asked with worry in his voice. He did not like the look on the doctor's face.

The doctor did not talk. "Answer me" His voice going cold.

The doctor averted his eyes away from Minato's. "I SAID ANSWER ME!" Grabbing onto the doctors shoulders in a vice-like grip, Minato's voice echoing throughout the empty room.

"I-..I am sorry…Hokage-sama, Kushina-sama has died giving birth to your child. We tried as hard as we could to stop the bleeding but-"

Time seemed to freeze for Minato, as soon as those dreaded words had left the doctor's mouth.

_Died._

'_She's…dead?'_ Letting the doctor go, his arms going limp as he took a hesitant step back. He felt like he didn't want to live anymore, he couldn't comprehend anything besides the cruel truth that was staring him right in the face. Minato could not hear anything else the doctor had said to him after that, besides his heartbeat. It seemed…so loud.

_Thump._

_Thump._

_Thump._

Sarutobi looked on at what had just transpired in front of his eyes. Although he could not see his successor's face, he was very sure of what it looked like. '_Poor Minato-kun_' Sarutobi thought. '_It just makes it worse for the child…THE CHILD!_' His eyes widening as the thought occurred to him.

Minato could feel the tears stirring in the back of his eyes, no thought was occurring to him other than the fact that the woman he loved, the woman who he would give his life for….was _gone, gone…forever_. He felt like he could explode at that very instant, the pressure in his chest wasn't helping either. The tears started to stream down his face, his mouth starting to go dry. He made an incoherent sound, it sounded like a mix between a wail and a strained voice. Now… Minato could no longer think, he could no longer breathe, it was like someone had just sucked up all the oxygen around him, his jaw felt numb. He did the only thing he could at that moment…he screamed.

* * *

**Konoha Forest, Kyuubi battle**

Many bodies lie on the floor, trampled on, bitten in half by the Kyuubi or else had chakra exhaustion and could no longer move. The air was heavy, due to the Kyuubi's presence in the area. Friends and family lay along the lot. The stench of death imminent in the air, any lesser man would've vomited straight off at the sight of the numerous bodies lying on the ground.

The Kyuubi's giant form looming over the exhausted ninjas that dares to still challenge its great abilities.

"**The lot of you are courageous, even as I stand in front of you still have that look of**_** defiance **_**in your eyes. That look **_**annoys**_** me greatly, and I will wipe it off your face as I destroy your pathetic village." **The Kyuubi walking over them and moving towards Konoha.

Down on the ground however, the remaining force of Konoha's ninja would have none of it and a leading jounin sounded out his voice.

"Quickly men! Defend our homeland and the Will of Fire!" he shouted out, his voice booming over the loud stomps the Kyuubi made whenever he walked. As soon as the men started to move however, an unearthly scream filled the entire area stopping everyone in their tracks.

The Kyuubi stopped in his movement, and looked around wildly for the cause of the frightening scream.

"**_Wha- What am I doing…it was probably a trick of the mind, that's right…a trick of the-._"** The Kyuubi was cut off from its thoughts as a giant toad started to approach from over the horizon, The Kyuubi's ears twitched as he heard cheering from those pitiful _mortals_ that he had just walked past, and turned around to see if he could find a reason from them for why there was a toad approaching him.

"Yondaime-sama has finally arrived!" shouted a jounin.

"We're saved!" a random chuunin called out in excitement.

"**Yondaime?"** The Kyuubi's eyes widening as the toads form appeared closer and it was able to see something…someone on top of its head.

* * *

**Konoha hospital,**

Outside the ER room, Namikaze Minato looked shaken. He was on his knees; his hands had a tightened grip in his hair and was taken deep gasps of air from the scream he had just released. His forehead was matted with sweat and his tears would not stop. The doctor in front of him looked absolutely terrified, frozen like a statue. Sarutobi did not look much better either, his face had adopted a look of horror and his mouth agape.

Color was returning to Minato's world, as he steadied his breathing, wiped his face with his forearm and steeled his face, changing it to a cold, dead look. Minato slowly got up on one knee, and then pushed himself up right, and looked the doctor straight into his eye. The doctor's breath hitched, fear took over his entire being from the look he was receiving from the yondaime.

"How..." Minato began, at first his voice raspy, but then cleared his throat.

"How is my son?" No emotion what so ever detected in his voice.

"Umm...err…" The doctor stuttered out, obviously still frightened from the earlier event.

"Out of my way." Spoken in a quiet voice,

'_It wasn't suppose to be like this, it's suppose to be a time of happiness for me and Kushina, this is the Kyuubi's fault, ALL OF IT!' _Minato took hold of the doctor's face with his right hand, and hauled him over his shoulder. The yondaime then kicked open the doors so hard that they blew off the hinges and a sonic boom resounded through the room. As Minato entered the room, he moved his head in a ghost like fashion towards his left, his face turning pale as he did. Minato no longer sure if he should've been so abrupt and took a little more time to adjust to the thought that this would be the room where his _deceased_ wife lay, and that just the last time he saw her, she was _alive_.

The sight was a horrific one, it was like a dream you wanted wake up from but could not do so. Blood was _everywhere_, it was on the bed, on the sheets and worse, it was all over _her._ Minato walked over to her, and stood silent. Minato took in the features of her face, it seemed so emotionless, her eyes still able to be seen through slits. Blood…vast amounts of it, it was all he was able to see on her, but he did not care in the least, she still looked beautiful to him. Minato moved his hand toward her forehead and with soft movements moved away the strands of red hair that were lying on her forehead that was mixed in with the sweat on her brow. Minato rested his hand down on Kushina's right shoulder and leaned his head down, close to her face and gave her a chaste kiss on the lips, it was cold but he did not care in the slightest. He moved his head toward her left ear and whispered quietly.

"_I'll be seeing you soon, Kushina-chan."_ Closing the rest of her eyes and took a minute of mourning for her and righted his gaze towards all the doctors and nurses in the corner terrified when he had kicked open the door.

"Where is my son." It was not a question, it was a command.

A nurse in the back slowly came forward with a baby boy resting in her arms wrapped in a blue towel, and shakily gave him to Minato. Minato took in the appearance of his son, he would, after all, not be able to see his son again after this day, he may as well cherish this moment as much as he can. His son had blue eyes, like the towel he is wrapped around in, and a tuft of blond hair protruding from his scalp. His hand small and soft, no bigger than the tip of his index finger. Minato's eyes made contact with his sons. They were very bright, exuberant and had a hint of curiosity in them as well as innocence; they were blue like the ocean, you could get lost in them so easily, it seemed…endless. Minato's face, slowly taking on a look of happiness again as he moved his finger to play with his son's small hand.

Sarutobi chose this moment to walk into the room, so much has happened in so little time, his successor lost his wife and maybe went a little insane, threw a doctor over his shoulder and to the far end of the room, probably raw strength alone and he had to attend to him, this was not something and old man as him should deal with. As soon as he looked at Minato however, surprise hit him like a ball to the face. Minato was smiling, a huge change from what his face looked like just a moment ago, it seemed it was contagious because soon enough, he himself was smiling at the innocent sight before him.

"…Naruto" Minato finally spoke. The newly dubbed Naruto gurgled at finally being given a name and started to wave both his arms wildly in the air, as saliva slowly dripped down his face from keeping his mouth open, and Minato was quick to wipe it off with his wrist.

"Huh?" Was Sarutobi's intelligent answer, as one of his eyebrows rose up.

"Naruto, that's his name, Namikaze Uzumaki Naruto." Minato turning his head to face Sarutobi when he spoke.

Sighing, Minato set his son down and unwrapped his towel leaving him bare to the world, and took out a paintbrush. Minato had then started to paint a spiral down onto Naruto's stomach, as well as some kanji going down the side. Naruto laughed as he felt the cold feel of the ink on the paintbrush go down on his stomach.

When finished, Minato let the paint dry down, and started to talk to Sarutobi.

"Sarutobi-san, when I am gone, you will take care of Naruto in my place won't you?" Minato's face once again putting on a solemn look.

Sarutobi of course was expecting this question and replied without hesitance.

"It would be my honor to take care of Naruto-kun, Minato-kun." Putting on a smile to assure Minato that he would carry it out his successor's request.

Minato gave a quiet thank you and put his attention back onto his son.

"Time to go." As Minato said that he hefted Naruto up onto his arms, and left with a sudden disappearance and the only trace of him that was left behind was a yellow flash.

* * *

**Konoha Main Gate,**

Minato appeared in front of the main gate where he was able to see the Kyuubi terrorizing his ninjas. As Minato shook his head, he started to perform hand seals at a very fast pace.

"**Kuchiyose no jutsu!" **Minato shouted out**.**

No sooner, a huge shroud of smoke appeared, after the duration of 4 seconds the smoke was cleared and a giant toad stood in its stead.

"**This had better not be Jiraiya!"** The giant toad shouted out. Moving its eyes towards the tip of his head looking to see who stood on top of it.

"**Ohhh! Minato is it? Thank god, I thought the old pervert summoned me for something unreasonable again. Want to go get a drink?"** The oversized toad was obviously going to say more but seeing the look on his summoner's face silenced him and quickly averted his eyes towards the area where Minato was looking at.

"Can you bring me over to that area Gamabunta-sama?" Minato asked, his eyes dead set on the Kyuubi, evaluating its every move.

"**No problem…but pray tell, what you will do when you get there? You obviously can't match up against the Kyuubi with your strength." **Gamabunta stated clearly curious as to what will occur when they would reach ground zero, starting to hop towards the area where the Kyuubi is attacking.

"I will be using a newly constructed seal that will let me summon the shinigami, and the shinigami will then seal the targets soul into a chosen vessel and for compensation, the shinigami will then take the soul of the summoner." Minato explained to its simplest form, but it seemed it was still a little too much for the giant toad.

"**Ok, I think I understand."** Uncertainty laced in his voice.

"**Wait, so that child, it will be the vessel?" **Gamabunta finally taking hold of the situation**,** and seeing Minato nod Gamabunta continued with his next assumption of his understanding.

"**Your going to be killed off, aren't you Minato." **Minato did not answer, and Gamabunta left him to his thoughts as they drew closer and closer to the Kyuubi.

Looking at the bundle in his hands, now sleeping quietly, Minato took a small smile and got ready for his final hour of living.

* * *

**Konoha Forest,**

Kyuubi took a snarl; this _yondaime_ thinks that he is good enough to match up to him? A toad against a fox, the nine-tailed fox no less! It was insulting to his power.

But as the toad came closer the Kyuubi was able to register a shape of another_ mortal_ on top of his head.

"YONDAIME-SAMA!" a jounin waving his arms above his head in excitement.

'_**Now I get it, a flesh-bag and his summon, it will do them no good because I will crush them like how I killed all those ninjas before them.**_**'** Complete confidence clouded the Kyuubi's mind as he took on a smirk, not noticing the yondaime's hands moving at an incredibly fast speed.

Minato set Naruto down in front of his legs.

'_Forgive me for what I am about to do my son.'_ Giving a quick thought, before closing his eyes and starting the series of hand seals.

'_Mi, I, Hitsuji, U, Inu, Ne, Tori, Uma, Mi, Tora!' _Minato opening his eyes when he had reached the last hand seal.

"**SHIKI FUUJIN**!" The yondaime screamed out.

"**What?"** Kyuubi managed to say before an image of the shinigami appeared.

A split in the dimensions appeared as the shinigami came out, the shinigami had long spiky black hair that reached his back, a metal rod in between his mouth, horns protruding from his head and a large black cloak framed around his body, and his hands large and pale with pyreflies flying around his body.

A large black dome surrounded the area where the Kyuubi and Gamabunta are. The shinigami already knowing his objective started to reach for the Kyuubi.

"**No.."** First it came out quiet, the Kyuubi to shocked to come out with anything else.

"**I WON'T LET IT END THIS WAY!"** The Kyuubi started to turn tail but could not break through dome with a color as dark as the void. The Kyuubi then tried to retaliate against the Shinigami by sending all its nine-tails to where he thought the Shinigami's body would be, but to the Kyuubi's surprise it passed straight through, the shinigami seeing the action moved quickly to grab onto one of the Kyuubi's tails and held it in a strong grip.

The Kyuubi tried to retract his caught tail and thought he succeeded when the Shinigami's hand started to go through it, but he realized he had lost all feeling in his tail and saw a white outline of where his tail previously was. The Kyuubi looked at Minato was, and saw him lying down with his head facing the Kyuubi.

"It's over…Kyuubi" Minato managed to get out; performing the shiki fuujin took out most of his charka and now he only had enough to survive, grunting in pain when he tried to get up. Minato managed to stand on one foot, almost falling over when he tried to straighten himself up. Panting fiercely, he put his gaze on Naruto, still sleeping oblivious to what was going on around him at this moment.

'_Lucky bastard'_ Minato thought in amusement. He then looked at the shinigami and took in its dark appearance; it was huge, as big as the Kyuubi himself.

The shinigami started to yank on the Kyuubi's tail, pulling out more and more its soul, the Kyuubi of course, tried to resist it by pulling the opposite way but only resulted in losing more of its soul. With one final pull, the Kyuubi's soul was tore free from its body as it dematerialized. The Shinigami looked at Kyuubi's soul, his hand still on it, as it became smaller and smaller, and soon become a pyrefly similar to the ones flying around the Shinigami's body. The Shinigami using his left hand reached out and grabbed Naruto, Minato following the Shinigami's actions with his gaze. Moving the pyrefly to the location of where the spiral was drawn onto, the pyrefly dissappeared into it.

As soon as the pyrefly was inserted however, Naruto woke up and in seeing the site of the Shinigami, started crying. Red charka started to envelope Naruto's eye sockets, as the Shinigami and Minato looked on in wonder. As the red charka dissipated, Naruto fell unconscious. The Shinigami curious as to what just happened started to shrink to a human's size to inspect it further.

Minato couldn't believe his eyes, the Shinigami a second ago, just as big as the Kyuubi itself, is now as little as him. He could feel a headache coming on.

The Shinigami carrying Naruto in its arms moved its pale hand to Naruto's eye and lifted his eye lid. Surprise was written all over the Shinigami's face as Naruto's eyes were now grey like the Rikudou's rin'negan, the only difference was that Naruto's eye did not have 3 circles surrounding his pupil but instead had 3 silver streaks flying through it at least every 3 seconds.

'_**This…This doujutsu is the one**_ _**stronger than even the rin'negan, the doujutsu that will give someone enough power to rival Kami-sama himself, but there was such a small chance that it would be born into this world. I must seal it at once."**_ The Shinigami laid his hand over Naruto's, and when about to seal it off Minato cuts in.

"What are you doing!" Minato asks once he sees the strange movements of the Shinigami.

Sharing a glance at Minato, the Shinigami speaks in a deep voice.

"**I am sealing off this boys unexpected doujutsu, it will cause a disruption between** **the difference of gods and humans, but most likely in process he will become blind as well."** Going back to his earlier action before he was cut off, unfortunately Minato decides to interject him once again.

"This was not part of the pact that I have made with you!" Minato told him, defiance evident in his voice as he readied himself in a battle stance.

'_I will not allow that to happen, to many bad things has happened to him already, but now to take his eyesight away from him, it is just too cruel!' _Minato remembering how bright and beautiful his son's eyes were, only able to show them once in his life and to a person who will be dead soon no doubt, he would not allow it.

"**Never the less, it is something that must be done, but do not worry you will pay for the compensation after I am finished. You should start saying your good byes and wait over there like a good little **_**human.**_**" **You could feel the amusement radiating off of the Shinigami, from what he thinks of the situation.

"I'LL KILL YOU!" First dispelling Gamabunta which Minato then fell to the ground, Minato then proceeded to take out a three-pronged kunai and tossed it at the Shinigami's feet, and then started to disappear in a yellow flash.

"**Funny how you should say that." **Taking his hand off of Naruto's eyes once again, and moving it out to the side.

"…**Since I **_**am**_** death."** Saying that as he caught Minato's soul through his body which passed right through him, and tumbled onto the ground lifeless.

Minato's soul, now situated in his hands, turned into a pyrefly and flew off into another split of dimensions.

"**Now then, to finish this off." **Placing his hand over Naruto's eyes again, a dark light appeared under it. The Shinigami, taking his hand off of Naruto's eyes, as intricate seals appeared over where the Shinigami's hand previously was, before disappearing into Naruto's skin. Opening his eye lid once again, they are now seen to be a dull grey color, indicating that Naruto has now lost his doujutsu, and is also, now blind.

Nodding in satisfaction, The Shinigami placed Naruto onto the ground, and proceeded to take his leave. The split appearing again, the Shinigami stepped inside, and disappeared leaving no trace that he was there at all.

* * *

A/N – and finish! I had a fun time writing this chapter and I hope all of you had a fun time reading it! Now please may I ask that you all give me feedback whether it is positive, neutral or even negative. Now GIVE ME FEEDBACK OR GIVE ME DEATH!! Please do not take that seriously.

As a little side note I will be assessing my own skills as a writer based on your reviews

Bye Bye!


	2. Decided Fate

A/N - Chapter 2, uploaded and ready to read

The Eternal Divide

Decided Fate

**Konoha Forest, Outside Dome**

Everyone cheered as they saw the yondaime perform a jutsu against the Kyuubi that they have never seen before.

However, they were all silenced as a dark and ominous chakra flooded the forest. Suddenly the wind blew hard as the trees tried to stay in their roots, and numerous bodies of the dead ninjas scattered off in different directions as the remaining ninjas struggled to hold their ground, channeling their chakra to the soles of their feet.

Soon enough the burst of wind dispersed but the dome remained as well as the dark chakra. The sound of silence entered everyone's ears, the Konoha ninjas suddenly wary of what was inside the dome.

A jounin saw something in the corner of his eye and looked to his right.

"Sandaime-sama!" He shouted. Everyone looked in the direction the jounin was staring towards.

Indeed the Sandaime was approaching the battlefield, along with two ANBU, one with a dog mask with gravity-defying white hair and the other with a cat mask with long purple hair, tailing behind him.

The Sandaime landed in front of the ninjas and at once taking command like he once did when he was the third hokage.

"Status report." Sarutobi asked the jounin in front of him.

"Hai Sandaime-sama, the battle with Kyuubi has left many of our forces either dead or else severely injured, of course the injured ones were already transferred to the hospital according to the information the med-nins have given me, but they also report that there could be more alive out there because they were to withdraw from the field due to the many patients already administered into the hospital." The jounin spoke out.

Sarutobi gave a nod and turned his attention towards the two ANBU accompanying him.

"Neko, I want you to search and gather up the surviving men still out there." Giving a salute, Neko disappeared into the trees.

"Inu, I want you to find out all the names of the dead here and have them all engraved onto the memorial stone." Inu seemed to drop his head down a little, before looking back up and giving a quick salute before, also disappearing into the trees.

Sarutobi looked back to the remaining forces and administered his orders to them.

"I WANT ALL OF YOU TO GATHER UP THESE BODIES AND PREPARE TO GIVE THEM A PROPER BURIAL!" He yelled out, his voice going over the curious voices of the ninjas when they had started to talk about the dome that the yondaime had summoned up.

"HAI SANDAIME-SAMA!" All of them screamed out in unison, and at once moving off to the closest body and adjusted to a comfortable support so they wouldn't fall off and took to the trees.

'_Better start writing the eulogy…I'm getting to old for this._' Sarutobi thought in mellow.

Right after, the black dome began to disperse. All ninjas looked on to see what it would uncover, of course though everyone expected to see the yondaime standing on top of Gamabunta in a stance of victory, however it was not to be.

The black dome, gone but no longer was there anything standing in its stead.

All of them had a look of surprise on their face as well as uneasiness, each and every one of them wondering the same thing, what had happened? All except the Sandaime, who knew exactly what to expect.

Everyone of them were about to move and investigate it but a quick word from the Sandaime halted their movements.

"ALL OF YOU STOP! I will go over and inspect what has occurred _alone_, all of you have an order to carry out." Sarutobi not letting any room for argument quickly took to the trees and moved towards the area of where the sealing was performed.

* * *

**Konoha Forest, Place of sealing**

Sarutobi landed in the location of Minato's final moments. Looking around to see if there could've been anything that could have gone wrong, as well as bracing himself for any abnormalities.

Soon enough, he stumbled upon Minato's lifeless body in a clearing. Sarutobi shedding a tear, he let it drip down his face as he looked down at his now deceased successor.

Taking Minato's right arm, he hauled it over his shoulder and picked him up, when he just about to leave however he heard a baby crying near his location.

'_What...Oh! Naruto-kun, how could I forget about him._' Sarutobi laughing at his own stupidity as he let Minato's body down lightly and walked over towards the baby on the other far side of the clearing.

Looking down, Sarutobi realized that something was wrong with Naruto. Frowning, he picked Naruto up and tried to figure out what was wrong with him. Staring intently, he finally realized what was wrong with the picture in front of him. Naruto either could not, or would not look up at the person holding him, so Sarutobi lifted up Naruto's eye lids softly as to not hurt him, slowly it revealed to him that Naruto had dull grey eyes which indicated that he was blind. Closing them, Sarutobi thought back to when he had saw Minato playing with Naruto.

Surely when he had saw Minato's face he was happy, and couldn't have been happy about the fact that his son was blind, so that meant something had happened during the sealing of the Kyuubi.

Deep in thought, Sarutobi did not realize that Naruto had started waving his arms around and had soon latched his hands onto his beard, and of course being the ever curious baby, Naruto had pulled on it…hard.

"OW! What the hell!" Yelling out as he was pulled out of thought, while his face was pulled down.

Naruto laughed at the unexpected outburst, as would anyone if they had walked upon that scene.

Glaring down at the boy he held in his arms, Sarutobi started to smile, moving one of his hands to tickle the boy's stomach earning more laughter from the small child.

'_I _will _protect this boy, even if it costs me my life._' Sarutobi making a small oath to himself, as well as keeping the promise he had made with his successor.

Carrying Naruto with his right arm, he hoisted Minato' body over his back and started to move towards Konoha.

* * *

**Konoha, Main Gate**

Walking slowly, Sarutobi finally reached the gates of Konoha, seeing two, probably fresh out of the academy, new Gennin guarding the gates of Konoha as all the ninja ranks above Gennin had to go out to fight against the Kyuubi and were most likely in the hospital.

Approaching the Gennin, they both took in the appearance of the Sandaime, or more notably; what he was carrying.

"S-Sandaime-sama!" The two Gennin cried out while bowing.

Giving a nod, Sarutobi began to walk past them, heading for the Hokage's tower.

One of the Gennin, getting out of the shock of seeing the yondaime looked back up.

"Do you need any help Sandaime-sama?" The Gennin asked.

Without turning around, he replied over his shoulder.

"I'm fine." Resuming his walk towards the large tower in the middle of the city.

Passing through Konoha he noticed it was quite barren in the streets, and the few people that were outside all had a look of horror aimed towards what he was carrying before quickly bowing to the presence of the great professor.

'_Konoha has sustained major damage, all the people of Konoha are most likely in the hospital checking if their loved one is inside resting or dead._' Thinking in sadness.

It was a grave time for Konoha. The time of the Third Great Shinobi War had already left many dieing as it went on, and now, not soon after it had ended, the Kyuubi had attacked them. It was indeed, a grave time for Konoha.

Finally reaching the front door of the Hokage's tower, he stepped inside. Giving a quick 'hello' to the woman at the counter, he proceeded towards the Hokage's office.

"Wait! Sandaime-sama!" Sarutobi, stopping in his tracks, turned around with a questioning look aimed at the woman.

"Yes?" He was curious, she made it sound urgent.

"Ummm….what was it again?" Her face becoming strained as she struggled to think what she was suppose to tell the Sandaime.

"Oh yes! Sandaime-sama, you need to address the citizens of Konoha on the situation of the attack from the Kyuubi and right after that the Council wants you to see them in the Council Chambers." Her face turning into a smile as she sat back down and continued whatever she was doing beforehand.

'_Dam it…the council, what the hell do they want._' Sarutobi thinking in disgust, first setting Minato's body in the Hokage's office and then, with Naruto still in his arms, headed towards the balcony where all the citizens of Konoha were waiting.

The people of Konoha were bursting with noise, the topic being the attack of the Kyuubi.

Sarutobi still inside the building, just outside of the balcony, took in a deep breath and exhaled.

'_I hope this works._' Stepping out of the shadows and appearing onto the balcony, all of Konoha silenced as they saw the Sandaime prepare for his speech, and put an end to the ruckus.

Taking a brief look down at Naruto, who was currently asleep, Sarutobi once again raised his head and began his speech.

"Citizens of Konoha! The terror known as the Kyuubi has been terminated by our great hokage, THE YONDAIME!" Stopping for a while as everyone cheered and celebrated but, he knew, the sad news must come out and so, continued.

"However." Everyone listening once again as there was more to be said.

"Our victory has come at a price, many of our loved ones have died in the battle, our village has sustained heavy damage, but the worst of all… we have lost our hokage!" The people of Konoha once again talking amongst themselves.

"And! Due to the absence of a hokage, I will be once again, taking up its position." All of them cheering once they heard that the great professor would be once again, taking up the job of hokage.

'_Oh Kami-sama, how much I hate this job…all the paperwork._' Putting on a look of despair, as everyone else had a look of pure happiness.

"All of you would be glad to know! We will be holding a funeral for all the dutiful men and women who have lost their lives in the battle today, 3 days from now." Letting a moment of silence sink in, Sarutobi continued.

"I want you all of you to know, the death of the yondaime was not in vain. As he died, a new hero has been born!" Bringing Naruto into his hands and lifting him over the ledge for everyone to see.

"Is that the yondaime's son we have heard so much about!" A villager shouted out.

'_It is best not to tell them, it could attract unwanted attention from other ninja villages and without the protection of Minato-kun or Kushina-chan, it could lead to an early death for Naruto-kun._' Deciding on not to tell them, he spoke out.

"No, this is not the yondaime's child, but a vessel for the Kyuubi! That demon could not be killed by mortals alone, so our yondaime chose the next option; to seal it within a child! This child is the only thing kee-" Sarutobi was cut off as all of Konoha flew into an uproar.

"That's the Kyuubi reincarnated!" A random village shouted out.

"That thing killed my father!" Another one of them cried out.

"It killed our yondaime!" This being said, all of the villagers flew into a craze, the ones in the back grabbed rocks on the floor and tried to hurl it at Naruto, who Sarutobi protected with his body, while the ones in the front tried to break through the front door, but were being held back by ANBU ninja.

The Sandaime's killing intent washed over the area, no civilian moved, all of them frozen stiff. No sound was heard, all the ruckus gone. You could see, you could _smell_ that most of them have wet their pants, while some others released their _putty_.

"You would forsake a child! An _innocent _child for that matter! I WILL HAVE NONE OF IT, anyone from this day who speaks about the Kyuubi's sealing will be publicly executed!" Walking away quickly, heading towards the council chambers.

'_Great, more stress._' Sarutobi thought, preparing for what he would encounter in there.

* * *

**Konoha, Council Chambers**

Sarutobi entered the room and sat down in his chair, the council room wasn't much, it was just a huge room with large a table in the middle and chairs surrounding it and mostly, a bunch of old people sitting around it settling village affairs.

"So, what is on the agenda today my good men?" Sarutobi was hoping that it was something good.

"Do not fool around Sarutobi! Originally this was to be about Konoha's status but after that 'speech' you just made we have decided to make this about that Kyuubi spawn that you hold right now in your arms." One of the Councilmen called out.

"You forget your place! The hokage rules over Konoha! And the fact that I have banned the talk about the Kyuubi, and anyone who opposes that rule will be publicly executed!" Sarutobi jumping out of his seat as he reminded everyone.

"That may be true Sarutobi, but the hokage only governs over the military matters of Konoha with the Council giving support, while the Council is the one which controls the civilian section with the hokage giving his or her support." Stated one, Hiashi Hyuuga, the head clan leader of the Hyuuga.

The Hyuuga's are a clan mostly known for their bloodline; the Byakugan which allows them to see all 64 tenketsu points in a human's body, as well as their use of their own created style of taijutsu, the Jyuuken. The Jyuuken also known as the 'Gentle Fist' style is used to close the 64 tenketsu points by expelling chakra to the tip of their fingers upon a target and closing off their points, disabling the targets use of chakra or else heavily damage a persons internal organs.

Sitting back down with a sigh, Sarutobi righted himself; he wanted this to be a civilized conversation.

"Okay then gentlemen but please, before we start I would like Naruto here, to be taken out of this room so he can sleep." Motioning to Naruto who was indeed, still asleep.

Aside from a few grumbling from the Council, they agreed.

'_No one knows Naruto is blind so far since he has been asleep all this time…probably due to the sealing, no baby can sleep in the uproar brought by the civilians._' Sarutobi was certainly thankful that Naruto was still asleep and began to call for an ANBU.

"Inu." At once the earlier ANBU with the dog mask appeared in a kneeling position. Beginning to stand up, Sarutobi handed Naruto to him.

"Do not let what I have said earlier fool you Kakashi, this _is_ Minato's son so treat him with care." Sarutobi said in a low whisper.

You could see the now known, Kakashi's body stiffen as he carried Naruto into his arms.

"Hokage-sama!" Kakashi let out quickly before disappearing out of the room.

"Okay people, now that, that is out of the way shall we get started?" Putting on a smirk, as all the civilian Council members had a look of hate on their faces.

'_I'm going to push all your arguments back against Naruto._' With this final thought, the debate for Naruto's future started.

* * *

**Konoha, Hokage's office**

'_So this is sensei's son? Looks exactly like him._' Many thoughts were running through Kakashi's head at that moment, all of them about his sensei, Namikaze Minato and his son, who he was staring at right now.

'_I wonder if they're eyes are the same, better to not disturb him don't want to deal with a crying baby, I heard thy're killer._' He thought while smiling beneath his mask as he kept looking at Naruto.

'_Hmm…Minato-sensei said that he hid a pram in here he had bought when he got overexcited when Kushina-sama had told him she was having his baby._' Looking around, he saw the pram right…behind where the door would overlap if it was opened.

'_Baka._' If someone slammed that door open the pram would no doubt be broken. Walking over he grabbed the pram and moved it to the middle of the room. Setting Naruto down inside it, more thoughts came to him, but only one was voiced.

"Why did Minato-sensei name his son 'Naruto'?" The thought just went into his mind and he had to say it out for some reason, but it raised a good point; why _did_ his sensei name his son a ramen topping. Thinking hard, he was not able to come up with a proper answer, he thought he would never get an answer.

"That's because I named him." A new voice appearing out of no where, surprising Kakashi as he jumped in shock. Looking around wildly, he was able to spot the source of his newest company that was by the window over looking Konoha.

"Jiraiya-sama! Wh-What are you doing here?" Kakashi was definitely curious as to whyJiraiya was here, but soon enough he was able to pick up a reason as his face shadowed.

Jiraiya, one of the famous toad sannin of Konoha, as strong as the Sandaime himself and teacher, of Namikaze Minato.

"Heh! Bet you didn't expect me to pop through the window. As to why I'm here, one of my informants told me about the Kyuubi attack and I rushed here as soon as I could…unfortunately it wasn't fast enough." Jiraiya's face going sad for a moment, before a happy thought struck him, his emotion changing immediately.

"So that's Minato's son is it? He'll probably grow up to be quite the bugger, the child of Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina! No good can come out of that, am I right Kakashi?" Laughing at his attempt to brighten up the mood, it worked because soon he had Kakashi joining in with his joke.

"Yes you are Jiraiya-sama, but if you know his name, do you know the color of his eyes? I'm sort of curious to know." Smiling, but of course you cannot tell, since it was behind the mask.

Jiraiya gave a deadpan look.

"How would I know that Kakashi! How a baby looks can't be told before it's born, you know?" Giving a look of exasperation, but his face looked like it came up with an idea.

"If you're so curious, why don't you just open his eye? Look I'll even do it for you." His face beaming with a smile as he walked towards Naruto.

"No, don't! You'll make him cry if you open it, and then we have to do all this stuff just to make him stop! I've heard women talk about it on the streets together, I don't want to go through that pain!" It was weird, having someone's voice filled with desperation, but the mask took away its seriousness…but the voice enough was able to piss him off.

"Alright, Alright! I get it, no need to get all _baby _on me, yeesh! You're a grown man for crying out loud! Anyways I'm going to head for the Council room, Sarutobi-sensei should be in there with those old farts, correct?" Seeing Kakashi nod his head, Jiraiya walked through the door leaving the room quiet again.

Kakashi continued his watching of Naruto, as he rested his arms on the bar of the pram.

Minutes passed, nothing happening besides the continuous breathing of Naruto.

_Inhale._

_Exhale._

_Inhale._

_Exhale._

'…_I think I'll just go look over through the window.'_ Beginning to move, until Kakashi heard the door creak open. Looking towards it, he saw no one…but he definitely sensed another chakra signature in the room, besides his and Naruto's.

"Who's there?" Kakashi's eyes going over the room as he tried to point out the perpetrator.

'_There!_' Finally finding the hidden person.

The perpetrator jumping out as son as he was found, revealing himself to be an assassin, he tried to tackle Kakashi to the floor. Back flipping away from the unknown assassin, he unsheathed his wakizashi and took on a kenjutsu stance.

Both people analyzing each others movement, seeing who would go first.

'_Naruto's in this room, if we fight here I would have too much trouble trying to keep him out of harms way._' Quickly thinking, he devised a plan to get them both him and the assassin out of the room. Looking behind him, the window was there, his plan finished, Kakashi acted to carry it out.

Using fast movements he took out a kunai and threw it at the perpetrator, which of course he dodged expectantly and rushed towards Kakashi. Utilizing a quick Shushin no jutsu, Kakashi reappeared behind the assassin, his wakizashi sheathed and grabbed his mid-section, then proceeding to run forward to throw them both out the window, while in a run, Kakashi had used the assassin's body to pushing aside and possibly break the hokage's desk.

The glass shards going into his skin were painful, but thought that the assassin would suffer much more. Kakashi letting go, they flew through the air and landed down onto a roof, rolling as they did so and both got into a squatting position.

Staying like that for a few seconds, one of them finally made their move, the assassin took out 3 shuriken and threw them all at Kakashi with perfect accuracy. However, Kakashi took up the defensive as he pumped chakra to his legs and jumped high into the air and out of the shuriken's path.

Kakashi, in mid-air took out his wakizashi once again and put forward a downward strike towards the assassin, but the assassin was able to follow Kakashi's movements and did a forward roll out of harms way. The assassin took out a kunai and charged at Kakashi, while Kakashi, still under the force of gravity pushing him down he jumped to the right as the kunai came down in a stabbing motion.

Pushing chakra into his legs once again, he jumped towards the assassin and made a swing to his torso, only for him to pass through the assassin. Kakashi's eyes widening as the assassin seemed to appear out of no where on his right side and was about the stab him with the kunai, while he; still in mid-air could not dodge.

The assassin smirked in victory as the blade sunk into Kakashi's skin, which had then transformed into a log.

'_Kawarimi?'_ The assassin thought, his eyes widening as he felt a change of air behind him. Acting quickly he was just in time to duck under a deadly swing from Kakashi's wakizashi aimed for his neck. While going down, the assassin kicked his leg up nailing Kakashi right in the face, his mask flying off as he rolled backwards.

Getting up, Kakashi's face revealed one black colored eye, with the other one closed and a vertical scar over it, and a face mask covering from his nose to his neck.

Both men stared at each other intently, both panting hard, their faces sweaty and various parts of their body dripping with blood.

"You're pretty good." The assassin spoke out.

"You too, but I have to put an end to this." Kakashi said, while sheathing his weapon and putting one of his hands into the 'tora' seal.

The assassin heard a sizzling on his back and looked over his shoulder to see what it was, his eyes widening when he saw an explosive tag.

"Katsu!" Kakashi shouted out as an explosion covered the area where the assassin previously was, blood flying all over the roof and some of it onto Kakashi. Kakashi had put the explosive tag on the assassin when he had reappeared behind him, before he tried to separate his head from his body.

Taking a deep breath he jumped back up into the hokage's office. Glass was all over the floor and the desk toppled over; walking over it he looked at Naruto who seemed to be stirring awake. Rushing towards him he looked on to see what Naruto's eye color was as his eyes were slits looking to become bigger, and just as he was about to see.

"What's going on in here!" The door slamming open, making Kakashi jump. Looking back at Naruto, he saw that the little boy was now on lying on his stomach with his face buried into the pillow.

'_Dam._' Kakashi thought with a curse, looking towards the door he saw Sarutobi and Jiraiya standing in the doorway.

"Hokage-sama, Jiraiya-sama." Giving a nod to them with his right eye in a shape similar to a smile.

"Just what happened in here Kakashi, and where is your mask!" Sarutobi began.

"Well, an assassin came in and I took care of it. For my mask, it…well, flew off my face when I was kicked." Shrugging it off casually.

Both men looked around the room, it was a mess. Glass shards were all over the floor, and the desk was pushed to the side of the room and turned over and the papers that were on the desk were strewn across the room. Walking towards the broken window, they looked out. Seeing a smoking roof with blood all over it, and the people living in the house, outside looking at what had happened to their roof.

"So this…assassin, was it here for Naruto?" Jiraiya asked, before Sarutobi could speak.

"Presumably. How did the meeting with the Council go?" Curious as to what the outcome was.

"I was able to stop Naruto-kun from getting killed or turned into Konoha's weapon, but Naruto-kun is not allowed into anyone's care and must live by himself, although I can still take care of him by visiting where he lives, it will be hard due to my job as the hokage." Sarutobi telling Kakashi what went on in the Council chambers.

"Well what about Jiraiya-sama, can't he take care of Naruto?" Hoping they haven't come up with that idea yet.

"My travels aren't a place for a child to be, not to mention a baby. Always on the move and plus I got a reputation to hold up, I can't be seen walking around everywhere with a baby in my arms." That idea, shot down as well, the room went quiet.

"Umm…Hokage-sama? I've been wondering a while, but do you know the color of Naruto's eyes? I want to know if they're the same color as his father." Kakashi said with his eye turning into a smile.

Putting on a sad smile of his own, he replied.

"I'm sorry Kakashi, but I have not, I don't think anyone has other than Minato-kun and I don't think anyone ever will." Putting his head down as Kakashi and Jiraiya had a look of confusion on their faces.

"Erm…I'm sorry hokage-sama but could you please explain what you mean by that?" Wanting to get the confusion out of his head.

"Yeah, Sarutobi-sensei what do you mean by 'I don't think anyone ever will'." Jiraiya also wanting to get this cleared up.

"Well, it's just that…Naruto is blind." Looking up, he saw that both Jiraiya's and Kakashi's faces were frozen.

"Did I forget to leave that part out?" Laughing cheekily, as he scratched the back of his head. Both Jiraiya and Kakashi turning red as they looked at the hokage.

Sarutobi stopped laughing as he took a look at their faces, and coughed, turning around so he couldn't see their faces.

"Well…Umm…I…Err…I wonder what Gennin team I should get to clean this mess up huh?" Laughing at the joke he made as an attempt to lighten up the mood he turned around to see the result; they were still ready and looked ready to explode.

'_Am I incapable of telling a joke or something?_' Sarutobi thought as he cowered under the glare of Jiraiya and Kakashi.

* * *

A/N - This chapter...was a bit hard to write, the beginning at least, so it took me a while to get it right and i hope you liked the fight scene even though it was a little short...

Next chapter, theres a time skip showing how Naruto's life has turned out, so wait for it.


	3. Wish upon a stone

A/N - Okay, so the last chapter was not good as it was suppose to be i admit that, but i am sure that this chapter will catch your attention.

The Eternal Divide

Wish upon a stone

**Timeskip 5 years, Konoha**

5 years have passed since the attack of Kyuubi…5 years have passed since the death of the yondaime, and 5 years have passed since the fate of a boy was sealed.

The people of Konoha were throwing a festivity. Children were shouting, the adults were cheering and getting drunk, fireworks going off almost every second. It was the celebration of the victory against the Kyuubi.

However, this day is also the birthday of one boy. This boy right now at the age of 5, sits alone on his bed in his very poor, run down and dark apartment. Although it is the day of his birthday, it was definitely not a time of happiness for him. He had lost both his parents on the day of his birth; his ojisan, the Sandaime of Konoha had told him that, as well as told him other things. He was born blind as far as his ojisan knew, the village hated him for reasons unknown and he wasn't allowed out of his apartment for fear that he would get lost or something more terrible would happen to him, although he wasn't sure what he meant by that, what could be worse than a blind boy getting lost in his own home village?

This boy sat hugging his knees to his chest with his blanket draped over him, was dressed in what could no longer be described as clothes. What used to look like a white shirt now had holes in various areas and through them you were able to see his body which was plain to see that he did not get enough nourishment. His body was so skinny to a point where you could faintly see his bones. His previously green pants were now torn at the sides and were covered with dirt. On his face, 6 whisker marks seemed to be scratched onto his cheeks, 3 on each cheek. And around his eyes, a thin black headband was tied around it a bit long as what was left of the headband, reached his shoulder…this boy's name?

Namikaze Uzumaki Naruto.

The son of Konoha's greatest hero, reduced to a pitiful boy, his fate chosen since the Kyuubi was sealed inside him. The whole village had forced him to drop his family name 'Namikaze' even though they do not know it themselves nor did Naruto know it because to all the people who did not know of the secrets that went on that night, he was known as Uzumaki Naruto, the village's forsaken child.

* * *

**Konoha, Naruto's Apartment**

This day wasn't easy for Naruto, heck, no days were easy for Naruto but this one was the worst. The day he was born, the day he lost both his parents…the day he became blind and had to live like this for most likely, the rest of his life. In an apartment, situated on his bed, only moving when he had to go to the bathroom or when he had to go shower. One of the ANBU members, that guard his room for reasons he did not know why, although it was mostly the same one that smelled like dogs and had an easy-going attitude would come in and bring him food at the certain times of; 11:00a.m, 2:00p.m and 6:00p.m, if he still got hungry after 6, all he had to do was call out to them but he didn't want to be a hassle, he thought he was troubling them enough already.

Naruto knew the way to certain areas of the apartment like the back of his hand; where his bed was, the bathroom and the front door. The other areas did not need him to memorize them, simply because he didn't use them at all.

People say that when you are blind, all your other senses heighten to make up for it and it was true, Naruto's senses are definitely higher than a normal persons, his sense of hearing, touch, taste and smell, all of them were heightened.

As a matter of fact, he could hear his ojisan about to walk through the door right now.

"Hello there Naruto-kun." Sarutobi opened the door and walked towards where Naruto was huddled up in the corner.

Sarutobi did not change much over the years; he now wore the red and white hokage robes and had a few more wrinkles on his face.

"Ojisan!" Naruto's head snapping in the direction where he had heard his uncle's voice.

Putting on a smile, Sarutobi took a seat at the end of Naruto's bed and took note of Naruto's clothes.

"Naruto-kun, who do you still insist on wearing those old, ripped clothes of yours when I always buy you new ones." Looking over to the closet where he always sets down the newly bought clothes…only for them to all be ripped as well.

"Well…sometimes when I walk past a stuck-out nail, or else I accidentally trip when I walk across a loose plank all my clothes end up ripping eventually." Naruto said while scratching the back of his head in innocence.

"And the dirt on your clothes?" The dirt was definitely questionable as it was easy to get off.

"Err…well I don't know where the washing machine is." Once again scratching the back of his head.

"Why didn't you call an ANBU to help you?" It seemed weird to Sarutobi, all these men are assigned to protect and help Naruto and he wouldn't take advantage of that?

"I don't want to be a hassle to them." Naruto said in a low voice as he suddenly found looking at his feet interesting.

Sarutobi looked down at the boy with a light smile as he rested his right hand down on the top of Naruto's head and rubbed it.

"Remember these words Naruto-kun, you will _never_ be a hindrance to all those around you." As he pulled Naruto into a hug. "Now…are you ready for your birthday present?" Sarutobi said with a smirk plastered onto his face as he watched Naruto nod his head enthusiastically with a wide smile.

Reaching into his pocket and taking something out, he placed it into Naruto's open hands.

"Umm…what is it ojisan?" Naruto was trying to make out the small object with his hands, it was curved at the top and everything at the bottom was shaped like a square it seemed to be made out of stone as well.

"It's a charm Naruto-kun, most charms you keep for good luck, but this one is able to bring you one wish." Sarutobi smiling as he said that.

'_A wish, I'm a freaking genius._' Sarutobi thought in cheekiness.

"WOW! Really ojisan! Thank you so much! I'm going to make it right now!" Naruto quickly encased his hands around the miniature charm in a praying position and the room grew quiet as he started his thoughts.

'_Wow! So many things I could wish for, maybe to fly or infinite candy or, or…I know exactly what to wish for…_'Naruto's face adopting a small smile as he went back into concentration.

'_I wish…My life took a turn for the better._' Suddenly, a crack sounded from inside Naruto's hands, separating them, it shown that the charm had now split in half which left Sarutobi in astonishment and Naruto ecstatic.

"Does this mean it worked ojisan?" He half asked, half shouted.

Sarutobi was not one who usually believed in superstition, but even this was hard to put it past him, an object made in stone does not break when someone covers it in their hands, even so, Naruto asked a question and he must answer it, quickly calming himself over the surprising outcome he answered.

"To be honest Naruto-kun, I am not sure." Shaking his head over the fact. "It is about time I leave Naruto-kun, I will see you again soon and do not hesitate to call on the ANBU for any matter." Getting up from the bed and heading towards the door as he said this.

"Bye ojisan!" Naruto shouted out just as the door closed, leaving the room in silence once again.

* * *

**Konoha, Bar**

The festival was in full cheer, all the people of Konoha celebrated their triumph over Kyuubi but as they were celebrating, a group of men in the bar were plotting, plotting _revenge _on the so called Kyuubi incarnate.

"OI! Akogi, when are we going to move already?" One of the men in the group shouted out.

"Pipe down Ikari! Someone might hear you besides, our plan should move into action as soon as those two chuunin drink their alcohol." The man named Akogi motioned towards the two chuunin seated behind them.

"I can't believe you got the bartender to drug their drinks Akogi." A man named Satsujin whispered but everyone in the group could still hear.

"It was easy, all I had to do was just tell him our plan and he straight away went with it. Just a few moments more everyone and then we can make our move." All the men looking intently at the two chuunin looking for the even subtlest hint that the drug was working, and soon their wait was worth it.

"You got a problem with me, aye?" One of the chuunin abruptly shouted as he jumped out of his seat and looked down at the other chuunin who was just coming up with the effects of the drug.

"Yeah! An' it's friggin' you, asshole!" The other chuunin also jumping up out of his seat and pushing his index finger against the other chuunin's chest violently as he said this.

"That's it! Prepare for ya ass kickin'!" Bashing his fists together, the chuunin roared out a battle cry and tackled the other chuunin onto the floor and started fighting.

"Okay people, time to go." Akogi called out as the group of men made their way towards Naruto's Apartment.

* * *

**Konoha, Naruto's Apartment**

Around the perimeter of Naruto's Apartment, many ANBU members stood protecting it from any people who wanted to make a 'wise' move, although they stood to protect though, didn't mean they couldn't think about other things. Take Kakashi for example.

'_Dam…another normal day, I need my icha icha._' Kakashi was cut from his thoughts however as an ANBU member came onto the scene

"Inu-san!" The ANBU member appearing right in front of Kakashi. "There's trouble at the bar! Two chuunin got into a fight and all ANBU have been called on to the scene to stop them, they seem to be acting rather violent." The ANBU member said all in a rush.

"Okay then, you go back and I'll inform all my men here." Giving a nod to each other, the ANBU member disappeared. "HEY! EVERYONE, QUICK A FIGHT HAS BROKEN OUT BETWEEN OUR NINJA IN THE BAR AND WE ARE ORDERED TO STOP IT!" Shouting it out very loud so everyone could hear him, soon enough all the ANBU around the perimeter moved off towards the bar leaving no one to guard Naruto.

Just as soon as the last ANBU left, the people who set up the commotion at the bar, rounded the corner and now stood in front of Naruto's apartment.

"Everyone ready to get revenge?" A rhetorical question asked by Akogi, so no one answered instead they all looked at the window Naruto was stationed at.

After a moment of silence, all of them kicked the door open and ran up the stairs to the floor Naruto's room was on, Akogi being the first to reach Naruto's room he stood in front of it with a smirk on his face.

Naruto had heard everything that went outside his door, from when the ANBU member came to report what happened at the bar to the people that now stand outside his door and he didn't want to know what would happen next.

The door opened slowly, creaking as it did. Naruto could hear the footsteps approaching him, until they all surrounded his bed and he could feel the intensity of their stares.

All the men looked weirdly at Naruto, they all wondered the same thing; what was with the black headband around his eyes?

"Oi, demon! What's with the band around your eyes?" The man named Ikari questioned first before anyone else.

"W-Wha? What do you mean by demon?" Naruto was utterly confused and scared, these strangers come into his room when the ANBU aren't around and the man who talked to him sounded angry when he had done nothing to provoke him or any of the other men in the room.

"Don't play dumb with us demon! Answer the question!" This time it was Satsujin who talked and it seemed like he had already lost his patience.

"W-W-Well, err… S-sir, I'm b-blind." Naruto just couldn't stop stuttering, the man who shouted at him sounded so scary and he had never been shouted at before so this was a whole new experience for him.

"Blind eh?" Akogi chose this time to speak, this was a new development in itself and as the self-acclaimed leader he should be the first person to speak about it. "This just makes it worse for you, demon." All the men now had a smirk planted on their face at this new speculation. "You two, pick him up and carry him." Akogi pointed towards two men on his right, Naruto struggled fiercely against their grip kicking his legs around and hoping to hit one of them luckily, his foot connected with one of them and the man fell back onto a table, breaking its legs. "Get him under control and let's go already, before the ANBU come back!" All of them quickly moving towards the door where they could find a place to exact their revenge on the 'demon'.

* * *

**Konoha, Alleyway**

"Dump him over here." All the men were gathered in an alleyway located in the poor side of Konoha, hardly anyone lived or walked around there as no one ever chose to, it was the perfect place.

Naruto was thrown unceremoniously onto a brick wall, a dead end in the alleyway leaving Naruto no place to run; not that he ever could.

Naruto hurt all over, the man who had grabbed him gripped his left wrist so tight that he had actually _broke _it but for some reason his pain had nullified just a few moments before he was thrown and could move it normally again but now he had a headache and his whole body hurt, he was thrown very, _very _roughly and could no longer think straight.

"Welcome demon, to a hell worse than yours." Akogi had a face of pure insanity as he said this. "The pain you will suffer here is NOTHING compared to what you did to us 5 years ago demon." Every one of them were cheering, their forms looming over the small 5 year old. "I hope no one minds if I take the first hit." Akogi's voice full of glee as he took out a pocket knife and flicked it open, the blade gleaming under the night sky.

Akogi slowly moved the blade towards right Naruto's arm, until it lightly pressed against his skin, putting a little more force, Akogi drew blood. Naruto could feel the cold steel as it touched his skin, he could feel the immense pain that shot through his arm as soon as the blade penetrated his skin, he tried to move his arm but something was holding it down to the wall behind him. Four men held Naruto down so he wouldn't move as Akogi continued what he was doing, slowly, Akogi moved the knife across Naruto's arm to the length of at least 30cm blood flowing out of the wound like a river.

Naruto was crying out as loud as he could, it felt like an eternity as the blade drew across his skin, but was actually only about 20 seconds, his headband was soaking up his tears, becoming damp and heavy. Naruto's arm and body was soon released and at once Naruto moved to clutch his right arm but felt pain as his skin contacted with the open wound and he immediately left it limp.

"Don't worry demon, this is only the beginning." Akogi said this in a whisper as his form was soon covered by the mass of people advancing on Naruto with at least one object in their hand that could do damage.

Naruto could hear the amount of footsteps moving and all the people snickering as they got closer, so he did the only thing he could, Naruto tried to run through the people in which he believed was the pathway to the exit, unluckily though, there were a lot more men then he had accounted for and they all pushed him onto the floor and proceeded to beat him.

* * *

**Konoha, Naruto's Apartment**

'_Stupid chuunin, getting riled up at each other just because they were drunk…_' Kakashi thought in discontent. Kakashi was walking down the hallway to Naruto's door to deliver his late dinner after finally getting back from his sudden crowd control. Opening the door slowly the room was dark as always but for some reason, it seemed to lack…life.

"Naruto, sorry I'm late but I got your dinner here." Kakashi expected a 'no problem' to come out from the room but instead he was greeted with silence. "Naruto? ...Are you giving me the silent treatment?" Waiting a little longer…still no voice came out from the shadows. "Hey Naruto!" Poking his head through the door and looking around, he was unable to see anyone. Kakashi's eyes widening he dropped the food onto the floor spilling it everywhere.

Rushing into the room at once, he tried to see if Naruto was playing a _really_ cruel joke on him and if he was, it just cost him his dinner. Looking around the room once again he looked around for anything that could help him find Naruto.

'_Either Naruto suddenly got so good at stealth that he can even hide from me, or else he was taken away._' Kakashi thought, running to another area of the small apartment room. In the new area, he saw the broken table that the villager had landed on.

'_A sign of struggle, I must report to hokage-sama at once._' Quickly, Kakashi ran out the window and rushed to the Hokage's tower.

* * *

**Konoha, Hokage's tower**

"Hokage-sama!" Kakashi shouted out, jumping through an open window overlooking Konoha.

This action of course surprised the Hokage and caused him to fall out of his seat and sended the paperwork to fly everywhere.

"Kakashi? You scared me for a second there." Sarutobi slowly got up as he slowed down his heart.

"No time for pleasantries, Hokage-sama. It's about Naruto, his been kidnapped!" Kakashi blurted out urgently.

"What!" Sarutobi quickly ran downstairs where his secretary was with Kakashi quickly following behind.

"Yes, Hokage-sama?" The secretary asked looking up from her work.

"Send out a message to all ANBU that I want them all on top of the roof ASAP." Sarutobi said and then departed for the roof top straight away.

The secretary gave a nod of her head and wrote down the messages as fast as she could.

Sarutobi and Kakashi both waited on the roof for about 3 minutes before the ANBU finally started to appear on the roof.

"Hokage-sama!" All of them shouted while kneeling on the ground. Nodding, Sarutobi cleared his throat.

"As of 5 minutes ago, Uzumaki Naruto has been reported missing! This has most likely been caused by the actions of the villagers, I want all of you to spread out and find him! Now, MOVE OUT!" Sarutobi made his orders ring out to all the ANBU's ears as all of them immediately jumped off the roof and went their separate ways.

'_Please be okay Naruto-kun._' Closing his eyes, Sarutobi hoped for the best.

* * *

**Konoha, Alleyway**

The villages were all crowded around Naruto as they continued to beat him with whether it would be their fists, feet or a weapon of their choice.

Naruto could no longer cry out as the pain spread through his body, his throat now hoarse from screaming to much, some of the villagers even kicked his adam's apple causing him to choke. Naruto's tears were now all dried out, his face getting covered in dirt as the leg movements kicked up dust from the floor. He was losing a lot of blood and fast, but for some reason all his minor injuries seem to heal up really fast, and the major ones would heal up a couple of minutes later.

"Take this demon!"

"This is for my brother!"

"Why won't you die!"

All the villagers words shook Naruto to the core, they made him confused as to what they meant…it made him think, was his life right now a lie? Is he really a demon, whose punishment was blindness? Naruto could no longer think as the pain overloaded his senses and soon the bliss of unconsciousness greeted him.

* * *

**Unknown Location,**

The sound of pipes creaking and water dripping greeted Naruto's ears. Opening his eyes, he was able to see a long hallway, the walls were decorated with pipes, and the floor was flooded with knee-high water, taking a look around at his bearings he noticed it looked like a huge sewer.

'_Wait a minute…I can see?_' Naruto thought in amazement, rubbing his eyes just in case his mind wasn't playing any tricks on him.

Looking down, he noticed his black headband was floating around in the water, unwrapped. Picking it up, he looked at it for a while relishing this miracle to its full potential, clutching his hand he strapped it to his right bicep. Looking around once again, he wondered, where in the elemental countries was he?

'_Last thing I remember, I was being attacked by some people and then…darkness, but where have they put me? Wait, if I was attacked…where are my injuries?_' It was true, all the life threatening injuries that were placed onto his body at the time of the attack had no evidence of being there, not even the slightest scar was on his body. '_Weird._' Interest flooded his mind, but before he could think more about it a roar echoed through the hallway forcing Naruto to fall onto the floor.

His entire being filled with fear but, however scary the roar was, it seemed to be _calling _him. So pushing that fear down, Naruto made a gulping sound with his throat and began to walk in the direction from where he thought the roar had come from.

Naruto now stood in front of a door, after trudging through water for what seemed like more than 20 minutes, he was finally at the end. However, Naruto could not move, a malicious chakra seemed to pour out from behind it leaving Naruto paralyzed.

Closing his eyes, he placed his hand on the door knob and ran inside bracing himself for what he would encounter in there.

Slowly, he opened his eyes, a cage door was placed in the middle of the room with a sutra placed down the middle with the kanji 'seal' written on it. Beyond the cage door, two large eyes seem to stare down upon Naruto assessing his every move, everything else beyond the cage covered in darkness. A smirk seem to spread across the darkness behind the door, sharp teeth gleaming.

"**Human, come closer…" **The voice was enticing, as if in a trance Naruto followed the voice's instructions.

Now standing no more than 1 meter away, a claw shot out from the cage barely missing Naruto, who had fallen down on his bottom due to the surprising action.

"**Hmph,** **a weak vessel, not worthy of my time at all." **The smirk gone, and only the two eyes were able to be seen through the darkness.

"Who…What are you?" Naruto's eyes trying to pierce through the darkness, looking down at the bottom of the cage, a red chakra seemed to seep through it.

"**You would like to know, wouldn't you? Puny mortal."** The voice's eyes squinting, but the smirk appeared once again. **"Okay mortal, I'll humor you. I am…the Kyuubi no Kitsune!" **The darkness seemed to lift as the sight of the Kyuubi was shown in full light, its nine tails swinging behind it elegantly.

"No way! There is no way at all, that you can be alive! Ojisan told me that yondaime-sama had killed you!" Shaking his head in disbelief thinking everything he had been told was the truth.

"**Yondaime-**_**sama**_**? Isn't that a little much for someone who condemned you to a life of despair and sadness." **Kyuubi was mocking Naruto, the fox's smirk still shown in full swing.

"What do you mean…?" Naruto's mind screamed at him to step down, to walk away and not listen, but this was not mind over matter as the child's curiosity knew no bounds.

"**Take a look around you, this barren place is your mind. I am here, but I am not an image created by you, no, my soul was transferred into you by the Shinigami, who was summoned by your very own yondaime. Your human mind still doesn't follow? Your yondaime** **has sacrificed your life for the rest of your weak village." **Kyuubi was now angry, retelling the events of what had happened 5 years ago was not an easy task for him, reliving his pitiful defeat.

Naruto looked crestfallen, the yondaime, whom he had looked up to so much for defeating a powerful enemy like the Kyuubi had sacrificed him, out of all people to defeat him.

"Then…the reason those people who had called me a demon was because…" Lifting his head up and staring Kyuubi straight in his eyes.

"**That's right, it was because of me but, even though the yondaime was the one who destroyed your chance at an ordinary life, the Shinigami was the one who had made it even worse. The reason you wear that black headband strapped to your arm is because the Shinigami had sealed off your eyesight with a seal that only he himself can break." **The Kyuubi loved to see misery and with his vessel taking in all this depressing information, it made him retelling his defeat ever the more easier.

"Why would the Shinigami do that?" It didn't make any sense, sure Kyuubi was sealed into him to save the village, but what good would sealing his eyesight do? Did the Shinigami just want to mess with his life? 'Oh he has the Kyuubi in him, doing anything else wouldn't make it so bad, I know, I'll make him blind!' Although Naruto was _highly _doubting that was the reason, but every mind had a limit, and that was his.

"**Now how would I know that? I was able to see that much, but getting your soul extracted takes a lot out of you, so I blacked out straight after." **The Kyuubi didn't like talking about the time he got weak as well, but it wasn't as if anyone else would know.

"You said…the Shinigami sealed my eyesight off, so that means that I am not really blind correct? And if I am not really blind, then that means if I can get it unsealed, I will be able to see again like I am right now!" Hope was flooding into Naruto like no tomorrow; he finally had a chance at seeing, he would be able to see the colors of life, what Konoha looked like and he wouldn't spend his life bed ridden anymore as well!

"**Yeah, your assumption is correct but, the Shinigami wouldn't seal off your eyesight for no reason at all, the higher beings are meant to treat all you pathetic mortals equally, so that means even if you do confront the Shinigami, you would most likely not get anything in the process." **Yes…Kyuubi definitely loved shooting down all of Naruto's hope especially since he answered it in a wise way.

"Then…if I can't talk to the Shinigami to unseal this seal of his, I'll beat it out of him!" Naruto said it out with determination, smirking to himself as he raised his right arm in an uppercut motion and rested his left hand on his bicep, the only thing wrong with this inspirational scene was that…Kyuubi rolling around on the floor laughing so hard he couldn't breathe.

"**You…beat the…Shinigami!...that's rich human..that's…rich." **Finally getting over his laughing fit, he got back on his feet and once again looked down upon Naruto. **"No one! No one that is a mortal can kill **_**or **_**even less****defeat, not even **_**touch **_**an upper being, not even I, the almighty Kyuubi can stand up against the Shinigami, that is how strong an upper being is." **This was said in all seriousness, no attempt to shoot down Naruto's hope or mocking involved, just utter seriousness and how much of a fact that Naruto shouldn't even contemplate that action.

"I don't care…I want to see…I want to see the world, I want to see all the people I know. Sometimes, people say that being different is a good thing, well I don't want to be different! I want to experience what everyone else is able to, and if that means my life will be in jeopardy, I say 'It doesn't matter because it's all worth it!'…because…I will rise beyond any human limits…I will become _stronger _than the Shinigami himself…I will regain my eyesight." There was no hesitance in Naruto's voice; he meant _everything_ he just said.

"**You will rise beyond a humans limit, you will become stronger than the Shinigami himself, you…are attempting the impossible…Fine, I will help you." **Hearing this, Naruto's face turned into one of astoundment, his smile beaming, his emotions couldn't be described at that moment when he heard those words from the Kyuubi's mouth. **"Become stronger than your yondaime, become stronger than me, rise over every being underneath the Shinigami and take back what was stolen from you! If you die, I die…but your determination is great and I will see to it that you become a vessel that I am able to be happy dieing with." **It wasn't Kyuubi's style, but he was pumping hope into the boy.

'_**Besides…A blind human becomes stronger than any, definitely worth working for and in some chance he does become as strong as he says he will, although I still don't believe him, revenge on the Shinigami will be taken on my vessel's behalf.' **_Kyuubi watched as Naruto ran around the room jumping from time to time in happiness. **'**_**First…that attitude must go. It is not befitting for my vessel…what's this? It seems like the villagers are finally finished but Naruto is no longer in that alleyway, I should've been looking at what happened.**_' The Kyuubi checking up on what was happening with his vessel's body.

"**Oi brat! Time for you to wake up." **Beginning to force Naruto out of his own mind.

"Uhh…what?" Was all Naruto was able to get out before his world turned black.

* * *

**Konoha, Alleyway**

Uchiha Itachi, currently 11 years old and is ranked chuunin. The first son of the head Uchiha clan leader, Uchiha Fugaku. The Uchiha clan are one of the most powerful clans in Konoha, prestigious for their doujutsu; the sharingan. This doujutsu makes the both user's iris become red and a tomoe to appear circling the pupil when the sharingan is active. The sharingan has 3 stages in itself, when the next stage is achieved, the same number of tomoe would appear around the pupil. The abilities of the sharingan include; memorizing a targets use of ninjutsu, genjutsu, taijutsu and kenjutsu then allowing the user of the sharingan to copy the techniques. Other abilities of the sharingan allow the user to also predict the next movement of their opponent letting them to intercept or dodge the incoming attack.

Itachi is highly known for being a genius among the Konoha community, becoming a gennin when he was 7, attaining the sharingan at the age of 8 and passing the chuunin exams when he was 10.

The title of 'genius' does not come easily, a person with exceptional skill would be the one to uphold it, so with the festival up and everyone celebrating, Itachi sees this as the perfect time for an enemy to commence an attack, and taking this into action he patrols the city looking out for anything suspicious.

Right now, Itachi was patrolling over the poor side of Konoha. It was silent, the slightest sound could be heard, but no, Itachi didn't hear something slight, he heard something that sounded like a squabble…with _lots_ of people moving about. Rushing towards it as fast as he could, he found it to be in an alleyway. Pressing his body against a wall and masking his charka signature, he looked over the wall and just as he thought; there were lots of people but they didn't seem to be fighting each other, no, they seemed to be attacking…something that he couldn't make out.

Turning on his sharingan, his eyes peered at what the men were attacking, it looked like a child…blond hair was seen…a black headband around his eyes…whisker marks, now knowing who lay at the men's wrath, Itachi was about to move off to inform the hokage but two figures suddenly appeared and were now standing next to Itachi. Looking to his right, Itachi recognized the figures as the sandaime hokage and an ANBU member next to him.

"Hokage-sama?" Itachi spoke out in a whisper so the villagers wouldn't hear. Sarutobi nodded his head as he looked on at what was transpiring in front of him. Slowly, he began to walk forwards towards the villagers, stopping behind one of them and lightly tapped his shoulder. The villager turned around, his face had a mixed look of annoyance and confusion, but of course when he saw the hokage standing behind him he stopped what he was doing and tapped the shoulder of the person next to him causing him to turn around as well which had then caused a chain reaction until everyone but one man knew that the hokage was standing there.

Everyone cleared the way for the sandaime, creating a path towards the heavily injured Naruto. One man still continuously kicking Naruto's unconscious body as Sarutobi approached him.

"Oi, Satsujin! Stop it!" One of his companions whispered harshly, trying not to let the hokage hear him.

Sarutobi coughed but didn't seem to gather his attention, so instead Sarutobi flicked his head causing him to turn around in irritation.

"WAIT YOUR god dam…turn…" Satsujin finally realizing that the hokage was among them, quickly moving out of the way like everyone else had.

Sarutobi, still with a smile on his face, leaned over Naruto and put his index and middle finger over Naruto's pulse, it was faint but there, pumping once every 6 seconds.

Sarutobi got back up and turned around but this time, his smile didn't seem so gentle anymore but more eerie.

Suddenly his hands went through hand seals at a fast pace.

_Hitsuji.Uma.Mi.Ryu.Ne.Ushi.Tora._

"**Katon: Karyuu Endan!" **A jet stream of flame burst from the sandaime's mouth covering the villagers, their skin burning to a crisp, after 15 seconds the last villager finally dropped to the ground and the fire let up, smoke coming from the bodies, the stench of burnt humans filled the area as not one of the villagers were left alive.

Putting his attention on Naruto once again he looked on worriedly but already saw the Kyuubi's charka fixing up the injuries.

"Itachi-kun, come over here would you?" His attention still on Naruto as he said this.

Itachi walked over and stood behind the sandaime waiting for what he had to say.

"I want you to take Naruto-kun here to the hospital, I will be there shortly after I have cleared these unfortunate deaths up." Itachi nodded his head as he received his orders, picking Naruto up, his blood already soaking into Itachi's shirt, quickly Itachi jumped off to the Konoha hospital and Sarutobi followed soon after.

* * *

**Konoha, Hospital**

It was now the next morning, the festival has come and gone, everyone getting ready for a new day except for Itachi who stayed in the hospital all night looking over Naruto because the sandaime had not come over yet.

Itachi sat as he looked back to last night as he reviewed what had happened.

'_Those were some nasty injuries, this guy should be dead by now._' The blood from last night was now dry and covered most of his shirt, it made _him _look like the one that was hurt.

Still waiting for the hokage to come by or else Naruto to wake up, he was beginning to get bored but luckily, Sarutobi chose this time to walk in.

"Ohayo, Itachi-kun" Sarutobi said walking through the door.

Itachi gave a nod of his head as a response as he got up from his chair to let the hokage sit. Sarutobi thanked the gesture and sat down.

"So, has he been unconscious the whole time being here?" Sarutobi finally questioned.

"Yes, nothing else has happened." Answering emotionlessly.

"The villagers were crafty with their plan, drugging those two chuunin's drinks knowing that the ANBU would be called to get them under control and then sneaking in to Naruto's apartment to kidnap him." Sarutobi shook his head, they went through all that trouble just to attack Naruto.

Itachi didn't say anything, he didn't really care that much, his orders were to look over Naruto until told to not do so anymore and that was what he was doing, none of this concerned him.

"This…was very unfair for Naruto-kun." Sarutobi massaging his temples, just done with all the paperwork and dealing with the council once again.

"Which bit hokage-sama? The sealing, him being blind or this attack?" Of course, all of this curiosity was fake, he was a trained shinobi none of this would faze him.

"All of it…Naruto-kun didn't do anything to deserve anything like this." Suddenly, an idea popped into his head. Looking over at Itachi, he put on the most guilt tripping face he could. "I wish…nothing like this would ever happen again, sooooo…Itachi-kun." Grabbing Itachi's attention as he turned to face the hokage. "To prevent something like this from happening again…would you…perhaps train Naruto-kun in the ways of the shinobi?" Putting his hands in a pleading manner.

"Is that an order?" If it was an order, Itachi would follow it but Sarutobi shook his head, it was completely optional. Looking at Naruto lying in the bed, his black headband clean and tied over his eyes, his face normal with no sign of blood. Feeling a slight emotion of pity he sighed to himself and answered with a nod of his head.

At this time Naruto woke up from his talk with the Kyuubi and he tried looked around at his surroundings but then realized he couldn't see again.

"Where am I?" Hearing two people breathing around the room that he was in.

"Naruto-kun, you're awake!" The sandaime jumping at Naruto's bed.

"Ojisan?...You stink!" Clutching his nose as he backed away from his uncle.

"Huh?...Well I was up all night and I didn't get a chance to shower Naruto-kun." Amused at what Naruto's first reaction was when he had just woken up.

"I hear another person in here ojisan, who is it?" Itachi was taken by surprise as the boy was able to hear his breathing.

"Oh, Naruto-kun, this is Itachi-kun, he will be teaching you in the arts of all our shinobi in Konoha." Smiling as he introduced the two.

"Glad to meet you Itachi-san." Looking towards the position he thought Itachi was at. Itachi just nodded his head and kept quiet.

"I'll leave you two to get to know each other." Getting up from his seat and walking out the door.

Itachi looked on at Naruto, assessing him, looking at which points he would need to work on and which points he would work on later. Done with his analysis of Naruto, Naruto heard Itachi's voice for the first time.

"Have you ever eaten ramen before Naruto-kun?" Naruto smiled largely and shook his head.

5 years have passed since the attack of Kyuubi…5 years have passed since the death of the yondaime, and 5 years have passed since the fate of a boy was sealed, and now…this boy's journey begins, to change his fate, to right his life as he takes his first step to go beyond any distance a human has ever gone before.

* * *

A/N - Looks like Naruto's wish came true...or did it. So it took me a while to finish this chapter, but I'm pretty sure it was worth it right?

Opinions on this chapter are welcome! Wait for the next one.

Bye.


	4. No such thing as rest: Part 1

A/N: Many, many, many, MANY apologies for this late update, but your wait is finally over! I present to you all...chapter 3!

The Eternal Divide

No such thing as rest: Part 1

**Konoha, Ichiraku Ramen Stand**

It was early morning of Konoha; the crickets were chirping and the birds singing. All of Konoha waking up to a new day and greeting the morning sunshine, one shop in particular is greeting the sunshine and _loving _it.

"Itachi-sensei, can I have another bowl?" Naruto lifted his empty bowl of ramen up in the direction where he thought his sensei was sitting…he thought wrong.

"Naruto, I'm over here." Itachi lightly tapping Naruto on his back and giving a blank stare at his stupidity.

"Oh!" Naruto quickly turned around but lost his balance on the stool and would have fallen backwards…if it weren't for Itachi catching his shirt before he fell.

"Naruto, you must remember your surroundings if you cannot see them that is your first lesson and hopefully you will remember it." Itachi adjusting Naruto's balance so he wouldn't fall again if he let go. "And no, no more ramen...your wasting my money on what I thought would be a cheap meal, not a price worthy of a 5-star restaurant." Glaring at the piling bowls of ramen as he said this.

'_12 ramen bowls, compared to my 2, I didn't even think he would be able to finish 1._' Itachi's thoughts turning towards his wallet.

"Please Itachi-sensei!" Naruto dragged out the 'please' as he said this.

"Yeah c'mon Itachi give the kid a break!' The new voice turning out to be the owner of the ramen stand, Ichiraku Teuchi, leaning on the counter with a mischievous grin on his face.

"Thanks ojisan!" Naruto turned his head towards his source of help.

Giving a sigh, Itachi let more hurt come to him, he'd just make the little money waster pay during his training.

"Okay, fine but no more than-" Unfortunately Itachi was cut off by Naruto as the first two words was all he needed to hear.

"5 more bowls of miso ramen!" Naruto shouted out in glee.

"5 more bowls, coming right up!" Teuchi quickly ran into the back to make more ramen for his little ramen eating machine.

'_THAT'S IT! I'm getting out of here._' Getting up from his seat and walking away, just as Teuchi came back out with 5 bowls of ramen magically balanced on both his arms.

"Alright! Itadakimasu!" And as soon as the ramen came, it was gone. "Ahh, that was good." Naruto laid back as he patted his stomach to emphasize on his statement.

"Okay, your total comes to…8560 ryo." Satisfaction written all over Teuchi's face as he looked around for Itachi. "Eh? Where's Itachi?" Staring at the now empty seat where the 11 year old was sitting before.

"Hmm? Itachi-sensei?" Naruto moved his hand toward where his sensei was suppose to be sitting to examine the space, only for nothing to be felt.

"Hey there's a note." Truth be told, a note sat on the counter. Teuchi picked it up and read:

"_Teuchi-san,_

_I am sorry about leaving but I am sure this little evil money waster can make up for it somehow, some way. Tell Naruto that hokage-sama will come by later to pick him up._

_Itachi."_

Teuchi shook his head at the short note and at being not able to get his money.

"Don't worry Naruto, this one is on the house and your sensei seems to have ditched you." Teuchi looked at Naruto who was moving his arms around him trying to see if he could find Itachi in arm's length.

"EHH! Itachi-sensei is gone! How am I going to get home? How am I going to get my training!" Naruto flew into a flurry of panic as worry flooded into his 5 year old mind.

"Calm down Naruto, I got everything sorted out for you already. Hey! Ayame, can you come out here for a sec?" As Teuchi called out, a girl at the age of at least 12 stepped out from the back of the ramen stand. The girl had brown hair that just reached the tip of her shoulders and wore a green shirt with a long blue skirt and brown sandals.

"Yes, tou-san?" The girl named Ayame said, curious as to why she was called out by her father.

"Ayame, could you show our little customer here the way to the hokage's tower?" Teuchi spoke out to his daughter as he motioned towards Naruto who just sat there confused at what he was hearing. Ayame nodded her head and moved to greet Naruto.

"Hi there, I'm Ayame!" Ayame called out to Naruto as she stuck out her hand for him to shake, but Teuchi saw this action and moved to whisper in her ear.

"_Ayame, he's blind._" Teuchi whispered very quietly so Naruto wouldn't hear him, finally noticing the black headband tied around his eyes Ayame let out a little squeak and quickly pulled her hand back to her side.

"Hi Ayame-chan! My name's Uzumaki Naruto…you smell pretty." Naruto said as he took in the scent of the girl in front of him.

Ayame blushed at the unexpected comment as Teuchi laughed at their childish antics in the background.

"Thank you Naruto-kun!" Ayame smiled as she took in the unintentional compliment. "C'mon, follow me!" Ayame jumped over the counter separating them both and grasped Naruto's hand as she took off in the direction of the hokage's tower.

* * *

**Konoha, Hokage's Tower**

"Ayame-chan!...Ayame-chan!...Slow down would ya'!" Naruto was shouting as loud as he could but it seemed that Ayame couldn't hear him. Naruto was being dragged across the ground as Ayame continued to run towards the hokage's tower, not being able to keep up once Ayame grabbed his hand and bolted off, he was on the floor as soon as his bottom left the stool.

"Were here!" Ayame suddenly stated as she took an abrupt stop and let go of Naruto's hand, unfortunately Naruto being on the ground couldn't stop himself and with the flow of the momentum, flew face first into the wall of the large tower.

"Ayame-chan…I think I see a vast field of flowers, wow… it feels so warm…" Naruto said this in a dreamy like state; his body didn't look like it would move as well.

"Don't be silly Naruto-kun! There are no flowers around us right now! Besides, you're blind! Am I right?" Ayame laughing at what she thought was a joke.

'_That…was a bit harsh._' Naruto's face still resting on the wall as his mind came back down to reality.

"Enough rest! Let's keep moving!" Ayame stated as he grabbed Naruto by the back of his shirt and once again, dragged him towards the door.

Slowly Ayame opened the door with Naruto in tow. Walking forward, Ayame met up with the assistant at the desk.

"Excuse me miss but may I see hokage-sama? I am sure he is expecting me." Ayame asked politely.

"Your name please?" The assistant asked back

"Ayame." As Ayame stated her name, the assistant skimmed down the hokage's timetable with Ayame innocently trying to raise her head over the desk to see.

"I am sorry but you do not have an appointment, you must wait down here until hokage-sama is free." The assistant said with a smile on her face.

"Aww, but Naruto-kun here needs to see hokage-sama as soon as possible!" Lifting the now sleeping Naruto up so he was able to be seen over the desk.

"The demon!" The assistant hissed as she jumped from her seat in shock.

"Demon? You mean Naruto-kun here?" Ayame said pointing at the sleeping form of Naruto to emphasize her point. "That's not possible." Ayame laughed it off thinking it as one of the most foolish jokes she ever heard.

"Look here girl, you were here when the Kyuubi attacked us, were you not? Then surely you must know of this demon correct?" But even though the assistant was saying all this Ayame didn't seem to be listening to her.

"Oh please! Naruto-kun here isn't a demon, he's blind, he wouldn't even hurt a fly! Partly because he can't see one, right Naruto-kun?" Ayame putting her arm that wasn't carrying Naruto to her hip and laughed at the situation.

"Huh?" Naruto blurted out idiotically waking up to hear Ayame's laugh.

"Demon…" The assistant said in a very quiet voice, but Naruto's enhanced hearing still picked up on it and his thoughts immediately went back to last night.

_The pain._

_The fear._

_The voices._

_The…__**Kyuubi.**_

A deep breathe was taken, the voice that came out was loud and full of cheer.

"HO-KA-GE-SAMA!!" Ayame's voice ringing throughout the tower and at once grabbed Naruto's hand and ran up the stairs, only except this time Naruto was able to keep up.

Ayame would have kept running, however the hokage seemed to be downstairs already; blocking their path.

"My dear assistant…you are now _fired_. You have just broken one of Konoha's most sacred rule and must deal with the consequences. ANBU!" In an instant, two ANBU members appeared in front of the hokage awaiting their orders. "Take her away."

The two ANBU members walked off, both grabbing the now former assistant by her arms and dragged her out the door.

The room was quiet for a moment and it didn't seem like anyone would move for a while.

"Ojisan!" Naruto shouted out all of a sudden breaking the silence.

Sarutobi put on a smile as he walked forward and embraced Naruto in a hug.

"Naruto-kun, Itachi-kun came by my office a little earlier and said that I was suppose to come pick you up at the Ichiraku ramen stand. I was going to ask him why he just left you there but he ran off before I could, would you know the reason why?" Sarutobi asked wondering what could make Itachi ditch Naruto like that.

Naruto just shook his head also unsure of why he was left behind and was literally dragged to the tower where his ojisan was stationed at.

"Umm, hokage-sama?" Ayame asked clearly feeling weird at being left out of the conversation.

Noticing that Ayame was feeling left out, he put his attention on her.

"Hello there little one, I guess I should thank you for bringing Naruto here to me and making my job all the more easier." Taking in the praise, Ayame had the decency to blush and look away from the hokage, after all it's not everyday the hokage praises a child like her. "What is your name little one?" Sarutobi asked politely.

"A-Ayame! My name is Ayame." Straightening her posture as she said this.

"Oh! Your Teuchi-san's daughter." Sarutobi shouted out as realization struck him. "Well then Ayame-chan, you can go back now. I need to take Naruto-kun here somewhere else." Taking Naruto's hand in his own and headed towards the door.

"Okay then hokage-sama." Giving a little salute and ran past them heading for the door.

"Well then…Shall we be off Naruto-kun?" Looking down at the boy who was waving goodbye towards his newfound friend, placing his hand on Naruto's shoulder, they both disappeared in a puff of smoke.

* * *

**Konoha, Training Ground 4**

Itachi was resting on a training post, enjoying his time outside with nature, basking in its silence. All of it interrupted however when two new charka signals suddenly making themselves known to his sensors and not too soon after, two people entered the quiet training ground. An old man dressed in white robes, his respected leader and a young child, no older than the age of 5, wearing plain white clothes that just had a little dirt on them and a black headband around his eyes, a boy who would be his pupil for a certain amount of time, but no, this was no ordinary _boy_. This boy is in fact the lowest piece of trash, this boy…steals your money and annoys you so much to the point you want to scream and rip someone else's hair off and smoke till you only have 10 minutes of your life left which you should spend laughing at someone else's happy life, just knowing that sooner or later it will all crash down and they would never _ever_ be able to pick themselves up again.

Gazing upon the new inhabitants of this area, Itachi observed their actions before he would make his own.

Sarutobi pulled his hand back to his side, but the result would show that, that was not a good move. Naruto, without the support of his uncle began to stumble around the wide training ground in dizziness. Spinning around in circles, almost tripping over his own feet before catching his balance and only instead, resulted in stumbling in the opposite direction. This event continued on for at least another 7 minutes with both other people looking stupidly at the young child.

Finally, Naruto managed to stop…by slamming into a tree and falling down onto the grass.

"Urgh…Ouch…I feel sick." Naruto barely whispered out, resting a hand on his head as he tried to lower the migraine his brain was giving him. Suddenly, a heavy weight came down on his stomach and it began to cut off his oxygen, whatever it was.

"You shouldn't lie down like that Naruto, someone might be crazy enough to sit on you." Itachi's voice ringing through Naruto's ears, and true to his word, some had been crazy enough to sit on him…Itachi. You could hear Sarutobi laughing hard in the background but that didn't really matter to Naruto right now.

"I-I-Itachi…-sensei…I…I…I ca-…can't…breathe…." With no oxygen left in Naruto, he couldn't say it very clearly and most of it came out as a wheeze.

"What's that Naruto? I can't hear you, speak up." Itachi leaned his ear down to Naruto so he knew, he was mocking him. "Ah! Naruto, your face is turning blue, whatever is the problem? Tell your sensei so he may help you."

Unfortunately, Naruto could no longer talk so he settled for the next best thing, thrashing his body around wildly hoping that he could get the irritating weasel off of him, however, his efforts proved futile and the world he knew as 'awake' was no more.

"…he fainted." Itachi looked down at the limp body on which he was still sitting on. "Maybe I should get off." Itachi said, pushing himself up and dusted off his pants.

"Well, that was certainly entertaining Itachi-kun, but I am afraid that I must now return to my office to finish off the paperwork that awaits me, I leave Naruto-kun in your hand Itachi-kun." Sarutobi finally getting over his laughing fit and adjusted his composure before, once again, disappearing in a puff of smoke.

A moment of silence.

"Time to begin training." Itachi grabbed Naruto and walked over to a water source. Using charka to increase his muscle power, he threw Naruto high into the air and waited for him to plummet down to the cold…_shallow _depths of the water beneath him.

"ITACHI-SENSEI!" Naruto emerged from the water with a large lump on his head and his body soaked, all of his anger directed at the young Uchiha standing in the field with an emotionless expression plastered on his face.

"Naruto, cease your anger and approach my voice. It is time we get serious." Itachi said, authority laced in between his words leaving no room for argument and eliminating all traces of anger from Naruto.

Slowly, Naruto began to walk towards the location from where Itachi's voice had last been heard trying hard not to lose his balance due to change in terrain.

"Try to walk with more confidence Naruto, your trembling whenever your foot leaves the ground and your body consistently wavers." Itachi did not like how weak Naruto was portraying himself to be, a gust of wind could most likely make him fall over.

Listening to Itachi's words, Naruto relaxed his body and began to walk, not many steps were taken before Naruto tripped and fell.

'…_No one should have this much trouble walking.' _This thought troubled Itachi and chose the best course of action, confront Naruto as to why.

"Naruto, no normal person should have this much trouble walking…not even a blind person. I want to know why, if it is not a sufficient answer I will stop all training with you." Naruto let out a sigh before answering the question that filled his being with despair.

"In all of the 5 years that I have lived, my body has never been really active. I have always required help from the friendly men that are always around or used the assistance of a wall in my apartment to get around." Naruto lowered his head, disappointed with himself.

"Hmm, I see. In that case, learning to walk properly is the very first thing I should teach you." _'However sad that may be…' _Itachi was definitely not pleased with this turn of events. Learning how to walk, or at least perfecting it at the age of 5 is not what someone would be proud of. "Before all that though Naruto, there is something I need to ask you...how much…how much do you remember of last night?"

Naruto grew still, the memories of yesterday's events flashing through his mind. Unconsciously, he lightly held the place where his right arm was cut which Itachi had taken notice of.

"Nothing…nothing at all." It was an obvious lie, Naruto could feel the glare his teacher was giving him right now but he didn't care, he didn't want to remember…just forget.

"Okay, fine, I'll let you off for now Naruto, maybe its better to not bring it up at all." Itachi looked down at Naruto and was about to drop the subject but the next thing Naruto said surprised even him.

"Sensei…do you know anything about the night the Kyuubi was sealed into me?" Naruto's voice was soft, just a little louder than a whisper.

"…You know?" Naruto gave a nod of his head. "I see but, by a law created by hokage-sama I am not allowed to speak of any events that had happened that day. I'm sorry Naruto, but if you truly want to learn what had happened I suggest you ask hokage-sama yourself."

"Oh, okay then I'll ask ojisan." Naruto seemed to be deep in thought after that.

"Well, let's get started. We're going to fix this walking problem of yours Naruto. All we have to do is pump up your leg muscles, so let's take a stroll until you can walk at a much smoother pace." Itachi stood up and helped Naruto get up as well. "First off, were going to walk around the village so I want you Naruto, to follow the sound of my footsteps as we walk and don't get lost. Ready?...and we walk." Naruto listened hard to the sound of Itachi's footsteps trudging along the grass. Following Itachi, Naruto took a step, slightly wavering. Naruto took another step…and fell.

"Dammit!" Naruto was able to let out just before he hit the ground.

Itachi stopped and turned around. "…This is going to take a while."

* * *

**Konoha, Shopping District**

The shopping district was hustling and bustling with many people. The streets were crowded with workers, pedestrians and shinobi, some people were buying groceries from a store, others going into a restaurant to get a bite to eat, one man was even being chased by a pack of dogs, but amidst all this movement were two people standing in the middle of the road observing those around them…well one was observing while the other was waiting for instructions. Who were they? Well…

"We finally made it…I didn't expect us to take 2 whole hours just to get back to the village." Itachi looked restless as he talked to his young student. "How many times did you fall again? I lost count after 47…"

"Around 80…86 to be exact." Naruto was covered in dirt and grass. His appearance would make one think that he just came out of a fight…not a lot of falls.

'_I didn't think it was possible to fall that much in one day from just walking, this kid could make walkingt sound dangerous!…I swear if he falls just one more time…'_ These were the thoughts of the normally composed and emotionless young prodigy.

"Okay Naruto, let's continue…follow my footsteps and don't walk into anybody." Stressed and tired, Itachi was already wishing the day was over…too bad the morning just started.

'_Umm…Which footsteps are Itachi-sensei's? Don't walk into anybody? Is he kidding me, I can't even see where I'm going!'_ Naruto flew into panic mode for the second time that day. "Itachi-sen-. Oh shi-!" Once again, Naruto could not make many steps before he would lose his balance and fall over.

'_All right, I'm outta here.' _Quickly taking to the rooftops, Itachi ran away from his annoying student.

Naruto slowly got off the ground laughing as he did so. "I guess that makes 87, huh Itachi-sensei?" No response. "Umm…sensei, you there?" Naruto's mind started working until it finally clicked.

"DITCHED AGAIN!?"

* * *

A/N: Hahaha, poor Naruto. Again everyone, I am terribly sorry for taking so long, I've been crammed with assessment tasks, assignments, homework...you know, school stuff, but worry not as I am now free and able to go back to writing. Next chapter I will be introducing more characters, who? Your going to have to find out for your self.

As a side note, today is my BIRTHDAY. Think of this chapter as my gift to all of you, although a birthday doesn't really work that way but what does it matter. You can all pay me back by reviewing don'cha know! Suggestions, criticism, a simple 'good job', or you could just do a normal review; telling me if its bad or not. It will encourage me to right! trust me it will.

Naruto's training goes for a more in-depth look next chapter, wait for it! Until then, Sayonara!


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